


Appropriate Ways To (Not) Handle Altered Items

by Dikhotomia



Series: 1000 Prompts Attempt 2: The (Slightly) Unorganized Mess [11]
Category: Control (Video Game)
Genre: A Day in the life of the FBC, Artistic License, Don't hold your altered items folks, Established Relationship, F/F, Humor, Jesse has no idea what Emily is talking about and neither do I, Little bit of Fluff, Science, self indulgent fic ahoy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:33:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29792652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dikhotomia/pseuds/Dikhotomia
Summary: The call comes in at noon, an agent shouting from their spot in the communications center. "We have an altered item!" Jesse's attention snaps to him the second the words leave his mouth and Emily's breath catches in her throat. "It's an Hourglass," he says, frowning. "They found it in the library, apparently when a student tipped it to let the sand flow it made everyone move erratically."Well, that's some bad luck. Jesse thinks, arms crossed. "Do we have people there?" she asks, raising her voice over the din of crackling radios and constant chatter."Yes ma'am, Agent Hawthorne is there with a team," he replies, tilting his head to listen to whatever is filtering in through his headset. "They can't do anything yet beyond damage control."ORAn 'average' day at the FBC
Relationships: Jesse Faden/Emily Pope
Series: 1000 Prompts Attempt 2: The (Slightly) Unorganized Mess [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1594495
Kudos: 21





	Appropriate Ways To (Not) Handle Altered Items

**Author's Note:**

> Back again with another prompt fic this time with Prompt 33 'Hourglass'
> 
> I took some liberties with the science talk here so I do not expect any of it to be accurate I was just yeeting words. Also one of these days I promise I'll give Chitose a proper introduction, I Just haven't finished that fic yet. Anyway! I hope you enjoy~!

The call comes in at noon, an agent shouting from their spot in the communications center. "We have an altered item!" Jesse's attention snaps to him the second the words leave his mouth and Emily's breath catches in her throat. "It's an Hourglass," he says, frowning. "They found it in the library, apparently when a student tipped it to let the sand flow it made everyone move erratically."

_Well, that's some bad luck._ Jesse thinks, arms crossed. "Do we have people there?" she asks, raising her voice over the din of crackling radios and constant chatter. 

"Yes ma'am, Agent Hawthorne is there with a team," he replies, tilting his head to listen to whatever is filtering in through his headset. "They can't do anything yet beyond damage control."

Jesse smiles to herself, turning to look at Emily. "Leave it to Chitose," she says, sighing. "She seems to be three steps a head of the rest of us constantly, I kind of wish she'd let me in on things more."

"That's always how she is," Emily replies, laughing. "She doesn't want to trouble anyone else if she thinks she can handle it herself within her sector, and usually she can."

Jesse supposes Chitose had simply grown used to it. Investigations was usually the first on the scene of things, information gathering and reconnaissance, sometimes even collecting Altered Items if they weren't listed as overly dangerous. Sometimes they needed more Rangers, sometimes they needed a more specialized team of Parautilitarians. 

This didn't seem like one of those times but-

"Director Faden!" The same agent calls, making her wince. 

_I'm never going to get used to that-_

"Yea?" She replies, looking up. "What's up?"

"Agent Hawthorne is requesting for a Research Team to monitor the situation more closely than she's capable of."

"Well," Emily says, smoothly stepping away from Jesse's side. "That's my cue." The other woman pauses briefly, looking up at her out of the corner of her eye. "I'm going to go check it out too, if you're not drowning in paperwork do you want to come?"

Emily doesn't need to ask her twice. "Hell yes I do."

\-------

They find Chitose purely by the sound of her voice, the low accented cadence of it carrying easily over the library's hushed silence. Jesse rounds the shelf first, followed closely by Emily and the small team of researchers she'd assembled before they left. The first thing she notices is the already established perimeter, agents stationed at various points around several feet of tables and computer cubicles. 

Chitose stands closest to them, gloved hands propped against her hips. She's just as sharply dressed as she usually is, military style trench coat hiding the shoulder holster Jesse knows the other woman is wearing instead of the katana Jesse rarely sees her without.

Now being one of those rare times.

In the center of it several people move at an accelerated pace; reading, writing, scrolling on a laptop and at ground zero a young woman remains transfixed on the hourglass, sand oozing from one part to the other at a perfectly normal speed compared.

"Are they aware?" Emily asks catching Chitose's attention.

Jesse meets the flicker quick glance the taller woman offers her before those vibrant green eyes fix on where Emily stands a little beside her. She clearly hadn't expected either of them, but handles their presence with her usual calm.

"I'm not sure," Chitose replies, reaching up to rub the back of her neck. "The Object seems to work in such a way that keeps them from communicating with people outside of the area of affect. If they can hear us, we're likely speaking too slow for them to comprehend."

Emily hums low, nodding to herself and taking notes. "And this is the only area affected?"

"Yea. A librarian called the cops but one of my agents intercepted it and we got here soon after. It'll be reported as a gas leak causing a mass hallucination." She shrugs, corner of her mouth drawn in a humorless grin.

"So..." Jesse drawls, crossing her arms. "Every time the Hourglass is tipped this happens...?"

Chitose's attention falls on her, eyes narrowed in something close to amusement. "That's the idea, Director."

"Do we have any idea how it got in here?" Jesse follows up, glancing back at the people trapped.

"My guess is a student brought it here to help them focus on work," Chitose replies, attention flicking to the young man writing notes too fast for any of them to see. "When it ran out, that woman offered to flip it and then this happened."

Emily passes by out of the corner of her eye, voice a low murmur as the other researchers all spread out through the perimeter set by the agents, pulling out equipment and small tools to start their work. It leaves her and Chitose standing there, both of them observing different parts of the object's area of affect. 

"Are you okay?" Jesse asks, leaning a little into the other woman's side, keeping her voice low so as to not distract the researchers. "I mean, it was you who figured out the perimeter wasn't it?"

Chitose glances at her out of the corner of her eye, a slender brow quirking. "Obviously," she drawls, that half grin returning. "I'm fine," she adds a moment later. "This didn't bother me too much, just a subtle tingling. I imagine if any of us walked into it though it'd be a very different story."

Jesse considers a few seconds, squinting.

"You want me to push you in?" Chitose asks a second later, leaning into her peripheral. 

"No, you asshole," Jesse shoots back, glaring at her. "If you do I'm pulling you in with me."

"Oh?" Chitose intones, brows raising. "I wonder if you could..."

"Fuck you, Hawthorne."

"Behave you two!" Emily says, and both of them look up, grinning sheepishly.

"Sorry," Jesse says, turning her focus back to the dark haired woman beside her. "Seriously though-"

"Please, you know I won't," Chitose replies, folding her hands behind her back. "We have no idea what it's doing to those people as is. It could be worse for a parautilitarian, or maybe you won't be affected at all. There's too many variables."

"So you _do_ care," Jesse comments, unable to hold back her smirk.

"Don't push your luck."

Jesse muffles her laughter behind her hand, grinning at the side-long glare Chitose pins her with.

They fall into silence again after, waiting. At one point Chitose leaves, pacing a circuit around the perimeter, only stopping to speak to the various agents. Jesse can hear her asking them how they're doing, how they're feeling, and each reply. Most are fine, some are a little dizzy and Chitose's brow knits at those answers, eyes searching their faces.

"Ideally," the other woman says when she reaches Jesse's side again. "We can contain this thing once the sand runs down."

"Ideally," Jesse parrots. "And take it right to the Panopticon."

Chitose huffs a laugh. "I wonder how Langston will serenade this one into cooperating."

Jesse decides she doesn't want to know, but whatever Langston does works well enough they haven't had as many incidents so as far as she was concerned he could do whatever the hell he wanted. 

"It has something to do with particle acceleration," Emily says suddenly, cutting off whatever Chitose was about to say next. "It's going to require further research but initial readings show that every particle in the area of affect is moving at an increased speed and it's resonating with the people inside allowing them to move at the same pace. Or at least some kind of equivalent...this is going to take a lot of further research..." Emily trails off, returning to writing notes down on the clipboard she holds. "Now we just have to wait until the sand runs out," she adds a second later.

"What should we do in the meantime?" one of the researchers asks, looking up from the tool he holds.

"Continue monitoring," Emily replies, weaving around between them to look at various things. "And if anything changes let me know."

Nothing changes.

"Is this more exciting than paperwork?" Chitose asks both of them eyeing the Hourglass as the sand depletes more and more. "This is almost like watching water boiling."

Jesse snorts. "I needed to get out of the office. So while this isn't really more exciting than paperwork, I needed the break."

The sand runs down fully, the last few grains disappearing into the bottom glass. They wait a second, two, as the world seems to slow back down for the people affected, all of them returning to some semblance of normal speed. 

"Can you-" the young man starts, but Chitose is there first, palm resting against the hourglass tucked between the two students. Jesse isn't sure she's ever seen Emily and a team of researchers disappear so fast, all of them melting away into the shelves with Chitose's team. It's just them.

"Can I borrow this?" Chitose asks, perfectly casual, a smile in place that Jesse knows is anything but genuine. "Just for a few minutes."

The student looks like he's wondering where she came from, like all the time that had just transpired simply....hadn't. Jesse watches the way Chitose assesses the entire situation without moving, without her focus dipping away from the young man's face. 

"Uh...sure? I mean it's not mine anyway, I borrowed it," he replies finally, glancing down at his notes. Confusion writes itself all over his face at whatever he sees and he sits back in his chair.  
At least the object doesn't seem to have done any lasting damage, Jesse thinks, frowning. They all seem okay, just a little confused and probably incredibly sore. Moving at that kind of speed has got to be stressful on the muscles.

"From who?" Chitose is asking and Jesse glances up, paying more attention. 

"A Professor from my University. He said it would help me focus on my notes if I only had to work for a set time before taking a break."

"That's very helpful advice," Chitose replies, carefully lifting the hourglass without disturbing the sand. "I'll bring this back in a little bit, thank you." She flicks a wave with her free hand and then much like the rest of them she's gone, leaving Jesse to disappear after her, following the shadow of her coat.

They're not going to get that Hourglass back.

"You didn't ask which Professor," Jesse says once they're outside and she's warily watching Chitose put the Hourglass into a black rock containment case. "And should you really be handling random Items?"

"It's low grade," Chitose replies, flexing her fingers. "While it's affect is problematic when active, the item on it's own is apparently pretty harmless." 

_She's right_ , Jesse thinks. _No one was bleeding or cut up and as soon as the sand ran out the affect stopped just like we thought. It's not at all like some of the other things we've found, if anything it seems pretty benign...or maybe it just wants to help._

"As for which Professor," Chitose says, waving one of her agents over. "It's simple enough to figure out."

Jesse, again, doesn't ask. She just lets Chitose do her job, instead finding where Emily was standing with the other researchers. "Hey," she says, smiling when Emily turns to look at her.

"Hey," Emily returns, stepping away from her colleagues. "That was a nice little jaunt, I'm kind of glad everything wrapped up so easily honestly. Most of the time when we come out here I expect trouble."

"Me too," Jesse agrees. "It's weird when it ends quietly, though I can't complain either."

"Nope," Emily murmurs, leaning her head against Jesse's shoulder. "Alright, it's time to get back to all that paperwork we still have to do."

Jesse groans, rubbing a hand down her face. "Unfortunately."

The ride back is uneventful.

(So is the paperwork. But the dinner with Emily afterwards makes it more than worth it.)

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/modulatechaos) if you wish.


End file.
